Washed air cooling system



July 14, 1942. R. L. BURTON ET AL WASHED AIR COOLING SYSTEM Filed Aug.21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 14, 1942- R. 1.. BURTON ET AL WASHED AIRCOOLING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 14,1942 OFFICE 2,289,825 WASHED AIR COOLING srs'rrm Raymond L. Burton andWalter D. Rogers, Haskell, Tex.

Application August 21, 1940, Serial No. 353,570

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for conditioning air and includes arotating cylinder having a moisture retaining medium, and a motor drivenfan for pulling the air through said cylinder containing said medium.

Another object of the invention is to provide equipment for washing andcooling air that may be manufactured in sizes suitable for use in anautomobile, in residences or in commercial es-. tablishments.

Other objects will appear throughout the speciflcation.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a device embodying ourinvention.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the device shown in Figure1.

Figure 3 is a rear view of the device shown in Figure 1. I

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section transverse to that of Figure2.

Figure 5 is a detailed view of the lower end of the water reservoirshowing the valve forming part thereof.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of part of the cylinder.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan of one end of the casing top.

Figure 8 is a modified form of the device to adapt it for use in anautomobile.

In the drawings the numeral l indicates a casing preferably constructedof metal such as galvanized sheet metal having four sides and a bottomand top portion. The top portion is provided with trimming comprisingsections of angle iron 2, which surrounds the top on three sides asshown The fourth side is provided with a sheet metal strip 3 havingstruck down portions that are welded to the side shown'at the left inFigure 2.

The front portion 4 of the casing is provided with a circular opening 5within which may be seen the fan 6 and motor 1 for driving the same. Asshown in Figures 2 and 4 the motor is supported by a pair of upper andlower brackets l and II which brackets are each provided with a pair oflegs l2 and 13' respectively. At the juncture of each leg with itsbracket there is a slot l4, through which is threaded a metal band lhaving ears l6 through which a bolt l1 may .be passed, which latter hasa nut l8 threaded thereon,- to thereby tighten the band. The extremitiesof each of the legs may be welded to four cross pieces of Lcross-section mounted on the sides of the casing.

water reservoir 22. The upper end of the water reservoir is heldremovably in place by the U- shaped frame-work 23, the ends of which areprovided with hinges 24, which are mounted on the angle iron trimmingsections 2. When the framework is swung up to a vertical ornear-vertical position the water reservoir may be removed and refilled.The reservoir has a U-shaped strap 26 which slidably houses the stem 21of the valve 28. A bridge member 29 connects the legs of the U-shapedstrap and provides an abutment for one end of the spring 30 whichsurrounds. the stem 21 and has its opposite end in abutting relationwith the nut or washer 3| mounted on the stem 21, so as to force thevalve 28 downwardly and thus close the valve 28 against the bottom 32 ofthe reservoir 22.

The reservoir is provided with an opening 33 (Figure 5), which isordinarily closed by the valve 28. The end 34 of the stem 21 bearsagainst the bottom of the casing when the reservoir is in position andthus unseats the valve permitting water to flow out of the reservoirinto the space there beneath. This space is formed by the supplementalreservoir 35, the walls of which are composed of the extension 20, thepan end 28 and the partition wall 36. reservoir is formed into aplurality of water compartments by the partition 35, and thesecompartments communicate with each other by means of one or moreapertures 31 which permits water to slowly pass from one compartment tothe other. The right hand compartment forms a pan I9 previously referredto.

The lower portionof the cylinder 38 dips into the water located in thewater compartment directly beneath the same. This water has found itsway through the aperture 31 from the water compartment located directlybeneath the reservoir 22. The cylinder surrounds the fan and motor andis provided with a pair of rings 39 and 40 located side by side andspaced apart by inner and outer meshed wire rings ll-and 42respectively. Provided the filling material is somewhat light,additional netting similar to mosquito netting (not shown), may beplaced against the inner and outer cylinder rings 4| and 42. The fillingmaterial which is located between the four walls defined by the rings 39and The supplemental water absorbing material such as excelsoir, spunrubber excelsior or spun metal. n fact any substance that will permitliquid to evaporate from the such substance when air is passed throughor around it. The meshed wire rings are attached to the cylinder ringsby solder, welding or other suitable means of attachment, although weprefer to make the outer meshed wire ring 42 removable so that thefilling material 43 may be removed or replaced at suitable intervals.The outer peripheries 44 and 45 of the rings extend beyond, or are ofgreater diameter than the meshed wire ring 42 to form the support of thecylinder 38 whereby the cylinder may be rotated by the means hereinafterdescribed; The cylinder surrounds the motor and fan, and the rings 39and are located fairly closely adjacent the front wall 4 and the rearwall of the casing when in position so as to prevent the passage of anygreat amount of air between the rings and casing walls. They are heldfrom being in rubbing contact with the said walls by the rubberantirattlers which are mounted on both rings and serve to slightly spacethem from the said walls.

The motor shaft 41 is provided with a pulley 48 of general V-typeconstruction. This pulley is located outside of the back portion of thecasing as shown in Figure 3. Extending through the back of the casingare two other shafts, 49 and 5B, (FigureZ), which are driven by pulleys5| and 52 respectively (Figure 3). These pulleys are also of V-typeconstruction. These shafts 49 and 58 extend entirely across the casingfrom front to back and are provided with bearing supports 63 and 84.Mounted on each shaft 49 and are a pair of rollers having grooves 55 and56 respectively. The said rollers are fixed to the shafts by anysuitable means not shown. The

four rollers form driving surfaces for driving the cylinder 38. Theouter peripheries 44 and 45 of the rings seat in the grooves 55 and 56.

58 is a belt which seats in the V-grooves of the pulleys 48, 5| and 52.This belt serves to drive the shafts 49 and 50 through the said pulleyswhen the motor 1 is running. Any suitable means may be provided forreducing the speed of the shafts 49 and '50 below that of the speed ofthe shaft 47. One means, as shown, includes the provision of acomparatively small pulley 48 and large pulleys 5| and 52 which aredriver by the smaller pulley 48. When these shafts 49 and 50 are drivenby the motor I, the cylinder 38 is rotated by means of the shafts 49 and50 to cause the lower portion of the cylinder to dip into the waterwhich has seeped into the pan H] from the supplementary reservoir 35, bymeans of the openings 31 in the partition wall 36.

The form shown in Figures 1 to 8 is that usually employed for airconditioning the interiors of building and supplying them with theproper amount of moisture laden cool air. The air enters through themeshed top 5, passes through the cylinder 38 and into contact with thematerial 43 therein, and is then drawn into the fan, after which it isforced by the fan through the opening 5 into the interior of the room.

In the form shown in Figure 8 the flexible conduit or rubber or othersuitable material is attached to the vent opening of an automobile. Thisvent is usually located in the cowl or dash of the automobile. The airis conducted through the flexible conduit, thence into the interior ofthe casing 53. This casing is constructed in a similar manner to thecasing shown in Figure 1.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for cooling, purifying and airconditioning aircomprising in combination, a casing, a motor and fan,-means mountingsaid motor and fan in said casing, said last named meas comprising aplurality of horizontal members connected at their ends to said casing,and upper and lower brackets attached to said motor an to saidhorizontal members, each of said brackets having a plurality of slots,and a metal strap encirclin ortions of said brackets, and threadedthrough said slots to retain said motor in fixed position, a cylindersurrounding said motor and fan, means for driving said cylinder fromsaid motor.

2. An apparatus for cooling, purifying and airconditioning aircomprising in combination, an apparatus for freeing a gas from smallparticles therein suspended, and for moistening said gas including acasing, a water reservoir mounted in the bottom portion of said casing,said casing having a partition wall forming a plurality of watercompartments, at least one aperture in said wall, means in the bottom ofsaid reservoir for permitting the exit of water from said reservoir bygravity into one of said water compartments whereby the liquid from saidlast named compartment gradually finds its way through said aperture tothe other of said water compartments on the opposite side of saidpartition, and a rotary driven cylinder mounted in said receptacle andadapted to dip into the water located in said other compartment of saidreceptacle, a motor, means for driving said cylinder from said motor.and means mounting said motor entirely within said cylinder.

3. An apparatus for cooling, purifying and airconclitioning aircomprising in combination, a casing having inlet and exit openings, saidcasing having oppositely disposed walls, a rotary foraminous cylinder, afan, means for driving said fan and cylinder comprising a motor, andmeans for supporting said motor and fan including a plurality of membersextending within said cylinder and means for attaching said members tosaid oppositely disposed walls.

4. An apparatus for cooling, purifying and airconditioning aircomprising in combination a casing having inlet and exit openings, saidcasing having oppositely disposed walls, a rotary foraminous cylinder, afan, means for driving said fan and cylinder comprising a motor, meansfor supporting said fan and motor within said cylinder including aplurality of members extending within said cylinder and pairs ofbrackets connected to the opposite ends of said motor and to saidmembers, means for connecting each one of each pair of brackets to theother one of said pairs, and means for attaching the ends of saidmembers to said oppositely disposed walls.

RAYMOND L. BURTON. WALTER D. ROGERS.

